Sustainability Technology & The Evolution of Smart Cities

Self-Assembling Robots May Not Be Such A Tough Pill To Swallow

While robots continue to create efficiencies in workplace environments, robots are still limited by the need for human intervention such as construction, control, and maintenance.

The Tech

An MIT computer science team has created a concept called Primer that is a robot that can move on its own, change shape, and even add a robotic exoskeleton to itself. Right now, the robot is activated by human-controlled magnetic fields until it reaches a given platform. The platform uses heat to activate the exoskeleton that folds up around the cubed robot.

The creators suggest the mini robots will be able to drill, scoop water, shovel, cut, and grab. Furthermore, they envision the robots being used by medical professionals who give them to patients in pill-form. Once consumed, the robots may be able to inject medicine or perform biopsies in humans.

“Pretty snazzy. Not sure how construction permits/property ownership works in Estonia, but I imagine there would be a lot of red tape around getting this type of home approved in the US (unless you already own the land its being constructed on). In addition to homes, work, school, I can envision this company getting into the event space (weddings in particular). Anyway, the design is way nicer than any NYC apartment I’ve seen. For $150k, it might be time to move to Estonia :).”